The Australian Inbound Tourism And The Chinese Market: Pitfalls And Strategies

Australia is the first western country granted by the Chinese government as an approved destination for the Chinese citizens to travel for leisure purposes while China represents a huge opportunity for the development of world tourism in the coming years. The latest forecast released by Tourism Australia expects one million Chinese to visit Australia annually by 2013, which has raised great expectation among the Australian tourism industry. Nevertheless, as China is still an emerging market prone to economic and social changes, risks exist in this market. How has Australia performed in the market? Faced with increasing competition from other emerging yet appealing Approved Destination Status (ADS) destinations such as European countries, how does Australia react? Do its strategies work or not?The research is a timely study undertaken to examine the strategies Australia adopts to promote its tourism in the market of China, uncover its pitfalls and find some solutions to those problems. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are employed in the research.The Australian inbound tourism and the Chinese outbound tourism are introduced in the first chapter to serve as a background of the tourism industry, followed by the analysis of Chinese visitor profiles, Australian competitiveness and accessibility of Australia to the Chinese consumers. 4P (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) Method is adopted in analysing the marketing strategies of Australian inbound tourism in the Chinese market. Finally, recommendations are proposed to improving the competitiveness of Australian inbound tourism, including improving accessibility, marketing strategies, and the role Tourism Australia plays in the industry.